Statue of Liberty Being Equipped with Five Accessible Webcams

The Statue of Liberty's 125th birthday is this Friday and is being equipped with five high-def webcams as gifts, the AP reports:

Through the webcams, Internet users around the world will have four views, including a high-quality, 180-degree stitched panorama of the harbor with stunning views of Ellis and Governors islands. They will be able to watch as ships go by Liberty Island and observe as the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center goes up floor-by-floor in lower Manhattan. They can get a fish-eye look at the torch itself as it glows in the night.

The five cameras, which will be on 24 hours, seven days a week, were donated to the National Park Service by Earthcam Inc., a New Jersey-based company that manages webcams around the world.

The cameras will be switched on this Friday in conjunction with several other observances: "Friday’s ceremony also will be marked by a water flotilla, actress Sigourney Weaver reading Lazarus’ poem and a naturalization ceremony for 125 candidates for citizenship representing over 40 countries. The public is invited to attend the ceremony, with ferry service available between Manhattan and Liberty Island. The interior of the statue — from the pedestal down to the museum base — will close after the 125th celebration for up to a year so that stairwells, elevators and mechanical systems can be upgraded. The park itself will remain open to visitors."

Comments

Upgrading stairwells and elevator means spending $30M an replacing 25 year old open stairs in the pedestal with enclosed stairs and a 25 year old glass walled elevator with a smaller conventional walled elevator. Plus a handicapped elevator that will take people in wheelchairs to the top floor of the pedestal, where they will not be able to go out on the balcony or even look out the door without blocking it.